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Japanese invasion of China
The Japanese claimed to have been shot at by Chinese troops at the Marco Polo bridge close to Beijing. Using this excuse, Japan launched a full scale invasion on China. China offered little organized resitence and the Japanese eventually took over Nanking and Shanghai, a capital and major port. Invasion -
Rape of Nanking
The Rape of Nanking was quite literal. Japanese officers allowed their troops to ransack chinese homes, raping tens of thousands of women, young and old, as they went. The death toll in Nanking after this event has been said to be upwards od 250,000.
[Rape](<a href='http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/china_war.htm) -
Germany's invasion of Poland
Invasion of Polandin the early morning, some 1.5 million Nazi troops invaded Poland along the border between the two countries. At the same time, the Luftwaffe bombed Polands airfields and German U-boats attecked polish ships. Hitler wanted more "living space" for Germany, and planned to enslave the polish natives. Great Britain and Franch had both signed a treaty with Poland, and because Hitler wouldn't withdraw his troops, the two western powers declared war in Germany, initiating WWII in Europe. -
German Blitzkrieg
Translated "lightning war", the German Blitzgrieg was a military tactic designed to create disorganization among enemy forces through the use of mobile forces and locally concentrated firepower It was first used in Poland during the 1939 invasion. Germany quickly overran a lot of Europe and was victorious for more than two years
http://www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/blitzkrieg
http://www.ushmm.org/wlc/en/article.php?ModuleId=10005437 -
Fall of Paris
France was invaded by Nazi Germany and the Nazis toof the victory as a result of the failure of the Maginot Line. The French signed an an armistice agreement by which the Germans occupy the northern half of the country and the entire Atlantic coastline. http://www.theguardian.com/century/1940-1949/Story/0,6051,128218,00.html
http://www.ushmm.org/wlc/en/article.php?ModuleId=10007306 -
Operation Barbarossa
Operation Barbarossa was the codename for the Nazi invasion of the invasion of the Soviet Union. Involving more that three million Axis troops, this was the largest military operation in history. Hitler set this up as a means of creating more "living space for his master race as well as an attempt to enslave the slavic people. Stalin wouldn't allow his generals to retreat and troops upward of a miilion were lost or captured. Germans almost made it to the Russian capital, but as winter set in.. -
Pearl Harbor
Pearl Harbor Naval base underwent a surprise attack from Japan killing 2000. This attaack was an attempt to keep Japan safe by nuetralizing our naval fleet, but many of the ships weren't present at the time. America went to war with Japan the next day.
www.pearlharbor.org/history-of-pearl-harbor.asp -
Wannsee Conference
German representatives gathered together in a villa in Wannsee to discuss what the "final solution to the Jewish question" was. None of the objected to themass extermination of all European Jews. Some six million Jews were eventually murdered.
http://www.ushmm.org/wlc/en/article.php?ModuleId=10005477 -
Battle of Stalingrad
Hoping to stop a major source of military industry, the Nazis unleashed a massive amount of bombs on the Soviet city of Stalingrad, launching one of the bloodiest battles in history. The City was quickly turned to rubble, but the soviets held strong. As winter set in, the germans got cold and supplies ran short. Germans surrendered after being trapped running out of supplies. This battle resulted in around two million casualties.
http://www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/operation-barbarossa -
Operation Gomorrah
Great Britain bombed Hamburg, Germany, by night in Operation Gomorrah as a form of retailiation for when German bomb raiders killed 167 British civilians earlier that month. More than 1500 German civilians were killed.
http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/operation-gomorrah-is-launched -
D-Day (Normandy Invasion)
The Allies invaded Normandy France in the largest amphibious attack in history. It lasted about a month and resulted in the Allied liberation of Western Europe from Nazi Germany’s control. http://www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/d-day -
Operation Thunderclap
In the closing stages of the Second World War, the controversial decision to target civilians by laying waste to German cities was made. Waves of bombers were crossing the German border, and many towns and cities were razed to the ground. One such city was Dresden. Tens of thousands of people were killed in the attacks, all in an attept to crush German moral. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8ap3LyYe4l4 -
Liberation of concentration camps
Th German military was being overrun and they were forced to leave many prisoners. The Soviet military was the very first group to find and liberate concentration camps. On July 23, 1944, they entered the Majdanek camp in Poland. On January 27, 1945, they entered Auschwitz. British, Canadian, American, and French troops also freed prisoners from the other camps of the horrendous atrosities that went on there.
http://www.ushmm.org/outreach/en/article.php?ModuleId=10007724 -
Battle of the Bulge
The German military made a surprise attack in the Ardennes Mountains of Belgium, France, and Lumexburg in an attempt to push the Allied front line west from northern France to northwestern Belgium.. Weather holds the Allies back, it improved and we got supplies. The Germans started losing resources and we eventually won.
http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/battle-of-the-bulge -
Battle of Iwo Jima
This was when the American Marines made their first strike on the Japanese home islands in an attempt to gain a much needed base near the Japanese coast. wo Jima was defended by roughly 23,000 Japanese army and navy troops, who fought from an elaborate network of caves, dugouts, tunnels and underground installations, but he Marines took care of them after a month of fighting. http://www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/battle-of-iwo-jima -
Battle of Okinawa
As part of the Allied effort to invade Japan, 287,000 troops of the U.S. Tenth Army fought against 130,000 soldiers of the Japanese Thirty-second Army. By the end of the 82 day campaign, Japan had lost more than 77,000 soldiers while the Allies suffered 65,000 vasualties, 14,000 of them fatal.
http://www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/battle-of-okinawa -
VE Day
This day in history marked the day that the German soldiers finally laid down there arms. Great Britain and the United Styates alike broke out in celebration with flags and banners and celebration becuase this was the beginning of the true ending of the biggest war of all time.
http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/victory-in-europe -
Potsdam Declaration
The Potsdam Declaration was the statement that called for the surrender of the Japanese forces. It also stated that if they did not surrender, it would face "prompt and utter destruction". http://www.ndl.go.jp/constitution/e/etc/c06.html -
Dropping of the atomic bombs
On August 6th, The US Dropped an atomic bomb, Little Boy, on Hiroshima in Japan and another in Nagasaki, Fat Man on August 9th. IIt was an attempt to get Japan to hurry up and surrender. The bombs left 66,000 dead in Hiroshima and 39,000 dead in Nagasaki, with many more injured in both places. The surrender of japan was announced August 15th and a formal document was signed September 6th.
http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/jap
http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/japan-surrenders -
VJ Day
On this day in history, President Truman formally announced the surrender of the Japanese after a surrender ceremony was held in Tokyo Bay aboard the USS Missouri, officially ending the Second World War. Further fighting was futile as their military was in shambles and two of their major cities had atomic bombs dropped on them.
http://www.holidayinsights.com/moreholidays/September/vjday.htm
